#6036
[Second Issue of the Day]
#9
Kommersant
January 23, 2002
THE US TRIES WALKING IN THE SHOES OF THE USSR
Explaining a long-term US military presence in Central Asia
Author: Boris Volkhonsky
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
THE MAIN GOAL OF THE U.S. MILITARY OPERATION IN AFGHANISTAN SEEMS TO BE CLEAR NOW: OIL AND GAS DEPOSITS IN THE REGION, AND SUPPORTING THE ECONOMIC INTERESTS OF AMERICAN CORPORATIONS. HOWEVER, THE US DOES NOT SEEM TO BE WILLING TO WITHDRAW ITS TROOPS FROM CENTRAL ASIAN STATES EITHER.
A tour by General Tommy Franks around Central Asian states is not a mere gesture of gratitude for the support in the counter-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. The whole matter is about a US military presence in the region "for a good long while." The main goal of the military presence is to uphold the economic interests of U.S. companies, primarily in the oil and gas sectors.
At the very beginning of the counter-terrorist operation Washington, seeing Moscow's scowling explained the necessity for using airfields and bases in the territories of former Soviet republics exceptionally with the needs of the current operation: allegedly, the Pentagon needs airfields situated close to the theater of military operation and bases of logistical support. Reluctantly, Moscow agreed to accept this variant then.
However, already early this year the situation changed radically. The military operation against the Talibs is almost accomplished, but liquidation of the bases is out of the question. U.S. official delegations became regular visitors to the region: on the line of the Congress, the Department of State and the Pentagon. Finishing his visit to Uzbekistan, leader of the Congress majority Tom Daschle said frankly: "We will increase our presence in this region in order to maintain US interests in Central Asia. Hence, our presence in the region will be permanent; a required level of confidence with governments of Central Asian states exists here already."
The Americans have been mastering at least two military airfields in full swing: In Khanabad, Uzbekistan, close to border on Afghanistan, where at least 1,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed; in Kyrgyzstan this is the Manas airfield in the capital, which has the longest runway in the region. Tajikistan has also been offering its services, but Commander-in-Chief of the US Central Command general Tommy Franks is to make a definitive decision yet, whether the Tajik airfields are suitable for US planes (the general is expected to arrive in Dushanbe tomorrow).
The increased activity of the Americans in Central Asia after the action actually ended has not remained unnoticed by the world press. The Guardian of London regarded these events "a grandiose strategic seizure of power in Central Asia."
In Moscow, where former Soviet republics are viewed as the zone of vital interests for Russia, this activity gave rise to unconcealed irritation of the military and politicians both. Yesterday chief of the Federal Border Guard Service Konstantin Totsky, who had returned from Tajikistan, said that in his opinion, the Americans should go home as soon as the counter-terrorist operation in Afghanistan is accomplished. Some politicians echoed the general's words, advancing the old thesis of the vulnerability of Russia's borders "in the south."
Meanwhile, it is evident that for the US its military presence in Central Asia is not an end in itself. In essence, the words former ambassador of the Taliban to Pakistan Abdul Salaam Zaeef had said the US had just begun to bomb Afghanistan, "The war is waged not because of Osama, but oil and gas fields in the region," prove to be correct.
This topic is discussed ardently in the world press. Expert of the U.S. Council for International Relations Richard Butler told in the article, published in The New York Times: "Now the prize is oil - getting it and transporting it - and Afghanistan is again contested territory. The difference (between the current situation and the situation of the 19-20th centuries. - Kommersant) is that this time around, it is the United States that will be playing the game of Russia."
Thus, increasing the US military presence in Central Asia is directly linked with the interests of the U.S. big business. According to Mr. Butler, the US is sharply interested in impairing its dependence of the main player in the oil market - Saudi Arabia. To achieve that, it must revive the projects of transporting oil and gas from Central Asia and the Caspian region. In part, this concerns a pipeline from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan to Karachi (to India in the long term; in addition, this is the reason for the interest Washington is showing in a resolution of the India-Pakistan conflict in Kashmir).
Work on the project began in the mid-1990s with the involvement of US oil concern Unocal. However, the project was shelved because of the instability in Afghanistan at the time.
Now Washington seems to have decided that it is high time the Afghan project was revived (as well as another - an oil pipeline along the route Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, via which oil from Azerbaijan is supposed to reach Turkey, bypassing Russia). Increased activity by the U.S. military is observed not only in Central Asian states, but also to the west of the Caspian region. In particular, we have already reported twice on the close attention the Pentagon is paying to the former Russian military base of Vaziani in Georgia.
(Translated by Andrei Ryabochkin)
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